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Committee Puts State Worker Raises on Hold

Governor Sam Brownback's budget proposal includes a 1.5 percent raise for classified state employees.

But Monday, a Senate committee cut that raise out of its version of the budget, at least temporarily. Senator Jim Denning, an Overland Park Republican, said the pay raise would affect more employees than originally thought.

“We weren’t fully aware that it would touch some judges, classified employees, it touches the Legislature. So we’re just trying to get our arms around it and then look at it globally,” Denning said.

Denning also said they're not scrapping the idea of state employee raises, but right now the proposal needs more study. He said they need to determine the exact cost of the raise.

Some state employees have not received a raise for several years.

Stephen Koranda is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service, based at KCUR. He has nearly 20 years of experience in public media as a reporter and editor.